Guilty verdict in cold case murder

DNA evidence enabled case to be reopened.

DNA evidence enabled case to be reopened.

February 10, 2009|By PABLO ROS Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Daniel K. Seltzer was found guilty of murder on Monday in the 1981 homicide of Gerald G. Gherardi. Gherardi was found strangled March 29, 1981, in the bathtub of his 100 Center apartment in Mishawaka. He was 28. "He holds nothing anymore," said Karen Gherardi of Seltzer, 48. Karen Gherardi is married to the victim's brother. "He held the truth for 28 years," she continued. "He doesn't have that anymore. We do. And that makes a huge difference." Karen and George Gherardi of South Bend sat through the weeklong trial with their three daughters, who are 23, 19 and 16. They said they were grateful for the work of law enforcement and everyone else who helped find justice. "We are grateful to all the witnesses that came forward, freely, for no personal gain, other than to serve justice," they wrote in a statement. "You are responsible for giving our family what we desperately needed ... answers." Jurors deliberated about four hours Monday. In his closing argument, Deputy Prosecutor Christopher Fronk of LaPorte County reminded jurors of the testimony of several witnesses who claimed Seltzer told them he had committed the crime, as well as DNA evidence placing Seltzer at the crime scene. DNA analysis was first used in a criminal case in 1988, after Gherardi's case had grown cold. The case was reopened, and charges were filed in 2007 as Seltzer was ready to leave prison, where he had been serving a 50-year sentence for the 1983 murder of George Lamphere. The LaPorte County Prosecutor took up Gherardi's case to avoid the appearance of impropriety, as it was St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak who defended Seltzer in the Lamphere case. Karen Gherardi said she and her husband will testify at Seltzer's sentencing hearing, which has been set for March 11. He faces up to 65 years in prison. Staff writer Pablo Ros: pros@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6357